Convertible cover arrangement for vehicle cargo area

ABSTRACT

A convertible cargo bed cover can function as both a tonneau cover and a cargo bed cap. The cover is raised by motorized elements to be substantially aligned with a roof of a passenger cabin of the vehicle. Side and rear window panels stored inside the cover can be installed to transform the cover to a cap to enlarge available enclosed cargo space. Rear pillars are installed at the rear corners of the tonneau cover in its raised position to complete the installation.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims priority to provisional application No.60/398,221 filed Jul. 24, 2002.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The invention generally relates to covers for vehicular cargobeds, such as pick-up truck boxes. More specifically, the inventionpertains to a movable cover which may function as a tonneau cover andcan be converted to a cargo bed cap cover.

[0003] Various types of covers for open cargo beds, such as found inpick-up trucks have become common place. A first conventional cover,styled a tonneau cover, traditionally rests on side panels of the cargobed and covers any contents either partially or fully.

[0004] A second type of cover called a cap has become well known for usewith cargo beds of vehicles such as pick-up trucks. The cap coverconventionally also rests upon the side panels of the cargo bed butextends upwardly to substantially align itself with a width of thepassenger cabin to form an enlarged closed cargo space either for largeritems or for converting the vehicle to a camper.

[0005] These individual styles of covers have traditionally beenindependent of each other and if one switches between cover types, theunused cover must be stored separately from the vehicle.

[0006] There is a need for a cover arrangement which may be convertiblebetween a tonneau cover and a cap cover.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0007] A deployable cover for a cargo bed of a vehicle includes amovable tonneau cover having a closed position adapted to close off thecargo bed. A plurality of linearly extendable supports positioned withrespect to the tonneau cover such that they may extend to move thetonneau cover from its closed position to an upwardly extended deployedposition is also provided wherein the tonneau cover is substantiallyparallel to a bottom surface of the cargo bed and raised above the sidepanels of the vehicle.

[0008] In a further aspect of the invention, the tonneau cover containsa storage space for side and rear window panels which slide into placebetween the raised tonneau cover and the side panels of the vehicle toform cap-like cover therefor.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

[0009] The objects and features of the invention will become apparentfrom a reading of a detailed description, taken in conjunction with thedrawing, in which:

[0010]FIG. 1 is a rear view of a pick-up truck with a tonneau cover ofthe invention in a down and closed position;

[0011]FIG. 2 is a view of the tonneau cover of FIG. 1 in a down and openposition;

[0012]FIG. 3 is a view of the tonneau cover of FIG. 1 in an up or raisedposition;

[0013]FIG. 4 is a close-up view of actuator buttons for raising andlowering the tonneau cover;

[0014]FIG. 5 is a view of one of the cover guides located on each frontfaring;

[0015]FIG. 6 is a view of the tonneau cover in an open position whilealso in a raised or up position;

[0016]FIG. 7 is a view of an access door of the undersurface of thetonneau cover the inner support cover lowered to expose storage areasfor side and rear window panels;

[0017]FIG. 8 is a view of one side of a side window panel partiallyinstalled and showing alignment grooves in both the faring and cargo bedside panel top plates;

[0018]FIGS. 9 and 10 are views of a rear corner pillar locking mechanismin a lowered and raised position, respectively;

[0019]FIG. 11 is a view of an access door in a side panel of the cargobed open and showing a rear corner pillar in a storage position;

[0020]FIG. 12 is a view of a rear corner pillar attached to a side paneltop plate of the vehicle;

[0021]FIG. 13 is a view of a locking mechanism on a rear corner pillarthat engages a side panel top plate locking mechanism;

[0022]FIG. 14 is a view of the tonneau cover lowered to engage a top ofa rear corner pillar;

[0023]FIG. 15 is a view of the rear window panel in an installed andopen position;

[0024]FIG. 16 is a view of a support strut for the rear window panel ina stored position on a rear corner pillar;.

[0025]FIG. 17 is a view of a cover hingeably connected to the faring andenclosing a front edge of the tonneau cover when the tonneau cover is inits down position; and

[0026]FIG. 18 is a view of a seal between the faring and the passengercabin to prevent entry of weather elements at this joint.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] With reference to FIG. 1, pick-up truck 100 includes a passengercabin 110 and a cargo bed defined by vehicle side panels 118 a and 118b, a tailgate 114 and a front faring 104. A tonneau cover 102 isfashioned from a substantially rigid rather than fabric material of mostconventional tonneau covers for purposes to become apparent as thedescription continues.

[0028] The front faring 104 is a cross-car structure located at thefront corners of the pick-up box or cargo bed and is an integral part oftop plates 116 a and 116 b respectively associated with side panels 118a and 118 b of the vehicle. The rearview shape of front faring 104 isidentical to that of the upper half of the passenger cabin 110. In aside view, the faring's front surface also resembles the passengercabin's shape, but the width of the faring is narrower at the top thanit is at its base, thus providing opposed slanted rear surfaces 106 aand 106 b.

[0029] Since the front faring 104 blocks the rear view of a conventionalcenter high mounted stop lamp located at a top rear portion of thepassenger cabin 110, a rear face of the tonneau cover 102 is equippedwith an additional center high mounted stop lamp 112 conventionallyilluminated via driver brake actuation.

[0030] The tonneau cover incorporates a lock system that secures thecargo bed or pick-up box. In a locked condition, neither the tonneaucover 102 nor the tailgate 114 can be opened. To gain access, a lockcylinder 120 at the rear face of the tonneau cover is deactivated,thereby allowing the tonneau cover's rear edge to be manually lifted asit pivots about hinges along its front edge.

[0031] With reference to FIG. 2, the tonneau cover 102 is shown in adown position but pivotably opened by manually raising cover 102 aboutits front edge 102 a to expose a downward facing undersurface of cover102 designated 102 b. At least a portion of surface 102 b forms anaccess door to a storage compartment to, be described in a later sectionof this description.

[0032] To assist in manually raising cover 102 about its front edge 102a, gas powered struts 202 a and 202 b are coupled between opposed outerside edges of cover 102 and the top panels 116 a and 116 b. Cargo bed200 is thereby accessible when the tonneau cover is in this pivoted opencondition.

[0033] With reference to FIG. 3, the tonneau cover 102 of FIG. 1 isshown in its raised condition wherein cover 102 is substantiallyparallel to a floor or bottom surface 308 of cargo bed 200 andsubstantially aligned with roof 306 of passenger cabin 110. Cover 102reaches the position shown in FIG. 3 via operation of switches atcontrol panel 400 which simultaneously actuate electric gear motors 302a-302 d which are respectively associated with linearly extendableelements 300 a-300 d. Each element 300 a-d, has a rack 304 a-drespectively associated with each linearly extending support which areengaged by associated gear motors 302 a-302 d housed in the side panels118 a and 118 b of the vehicle.

[0034] As further seen from FIG. 3, each side panel 118 a and 118 b hasan access door on its inner surface 310 a and 310 b (FIG. 6) forenabling access to the storage area in each side panel for housing rearpillar columns for the raised tonneau cover to be described in a latersection.

[0035]FIG. 4 shows details of control panel 400 of FIG. 3. A switch 402is actuated to raise tonneau cover 102 as shown in FIG. 3, and switch404 is used to lower cover 102 to the position shown in FIG. 1.

[0036] As tonneau cover 102 is raised or lowered by linearly extendablesupports 300 a-300 d, its front end portions travel along a cover guide500 formed at both sides of front faring 104, one guide shown in FIG. 5.

[0037] With reference to FIG. 6, the tonneau cover 102 of FIG. 1 isshown pivoted to an open position while in a raised or up state. Alsoshown in FIG. 6 are the access door and phantom outline of the actuatorgear motors 302B and 302 d for extendable struts 300 b and 300 d.

[0038] With reference with FIG. 7, when the under surface 102 b of cover102 is exposed, such as when tonneau cover 102 is placed in its raisedposition by extension struts 300, access may be had to storage areaswithin cover 102 for side and rear window panels to be used in themanner described below.

[0039] An outer access door 708 gains access to a side panel storagearea 704, while access door 706 may additionally be swung downwardly togive access to an upper storage area 702 for containing a rear windowpanel unit. Hence, rear and side panels for completing a cap-likestructure are housed when not in use in substantially parallel positionsto the major surface of cover 102.

[0040] As shown in FIG. 8, a partially installed side window panel 802slides from the rear of the cargo bed towards the passenger cabin alongalignment grooves 806 formed in top plates 116 a, 116 b and rests inalignment grooves 804 in the front faring side panels 106 a and 106 b.

[0041] With reference to FIGS. 9-15, first and second rear pillar units1102 a and 1102 b are adapted to engage rear portions of top panels 116a and 116 b and rear corners of the tonneau cover 102 when in its raisedposition. When not in use, pillars 1102 a and 1102 b are stowed instorage areas 1100 in opposed side panels 118 a and 118 b, respectively.FIG. 11 shows access door 310 b and side panel 118 a pivoted downward toexpose storage area 1100 for a stored rear pillar 1102 a.

[0042] Each rear corner pillar 1102 a,b is adapted to lockingly engageits respective top panel 116 a,b via a latching element 902 which may bemanually pulled upwardly as shown in FIG. 10 from stored positionvirtually flush with the top panel 116 a as shown in FIG. 9. When in theraised position of FIG. 10, latching element 902 engages a lockingmechanism 1302 associated with each corner pillar. The specific lockingmechanism for pillar 1102 b is shown in FIG. 13. When, fully assembledto the top panel, the rear pillar 1102 a, for example, engages tonneaucover 102 at its rearward corner when the cover 102 is lowered down toengage pillar 1102 a.

[0043] Each rear pillar carries a support strut 1504 for assisting inmanually raising a rear window panel 1502 (FIG. 15). As shown in FIG.15, support struts 1504 a and 1504 b are respectively associated withrear pillars 1102 b and 1102 a. The rear window panel when taken fromits storage area in cover 102 may be pivotally installed to the rearedge of the tonneau cover via quick disconnect hinge halves 1506 a and1506 b, which respectively mate with hinge halves 1507 a and 1507 b(FIG. 2) mounted to the rear edge of tonneau cover 102, to thereby berotatable between a closed position and an open position as shown inFIG. 15.

[0044] With reference to FIG. 16, support lift strut 1504 a is shown inits non-used condition with one end thereof permanently attached to anassociated rear pillar 1102 b.

[0045] With reference to FIG. 17, cover flap 502 is hingedly connectedto the faring 104 and is adapted to enclose a front edge of the tonneaucover 102 in its down and closed position as shown in FIG. 1.

[0046]FIG. 18 shows a seal 1800 placed between faring 104 and passengercabin 110 to provide a weather-tight juncture between faring 104 andcabin 110.

[0047] With reference to all of the drawing Figures, the features of theconvertible cover arrangement of the invention may be summarized, asfollows.

[0048] The tonneau cover 102 extends rearwardly from a base 108 offaring 104 to a rear edge of the cargo bed or pick-up box. Cover 102 isconstructed from a rigid material. The overall shape and width oftonneau cover 102 also matches the roof of the passenger cabin andfaring. The overall width of tonneau cover 102 is less than a topsurface width of the cargo bed or pick-up box. Hence, the side panel topplates 116 a and 116 b are designed to extend inboard and provide asealing surface for tonneau cover 102.

[0049] An extension panel 502 located forward of the tonneau cover 102and placed between bases of the faring 104 completes the pick-up box topcover. A Weather seal on the front edge of the tonneau cover (not shown)prevents intrusion by the elements at this joint. The extension panel502 is hinged along a front edge thereof and mechanically interfaceswith tonneau cover 102 to open and close as tonneau cover 120 travels upand down via linearly extendable supports 300 a-d.

[0050] An independent perimeter frame 600 (FIG. 6) and high pressure gaslift struts 202 a and 202 b are incorporated into tonneau cover 102 toassist in raising it and also in maintaining its raised position.Tonneau cover 102 may be raised high enough to provide unobstructedaccess to items in the cargo bed or pick-up box 200. By partiallylifting a rear edge of the tonneau cover 102, access to power controlswitches 402, 404 for the tonneau cover, mounted inside the cargo bed orpick-up box at panel 400 just forward of the tailgate opening isobtained.

[0051] Electrically powered gear motors 302 a-b and associated racks 304a-d are positioned at each corner of tonneau cover 102. When activated,motors 302 a-d simultaneously operate to raise the tonneau cover 102until its height is flush with a roof of the passenger cabin 110 andfaring 104. In this raised position, the rear of tonneau cover 102 canalso be tilted upward as shown in FIG. 6.

[0052] An inner panel 102 b of tonneau cover 102 drops down to gainaccess to a storage compartment 704 for side window panels 802 an astorage compartment 702 for a rear window panel 1502. Slots inoutboard/underside edges of tonneau cover 102, in outboard/top surfacesof the pick-up side panel top plates, and a rear face of the frontfaring provide tracks 500 which allow the side windows to slide intoplace from the rear of the vehicle. The rear window panel has quickdisconnect hinges 1506 a,b that attach to mating hinge halves 1507 a and1507 b located on the rear/underside edge of tonneau cover 102. Thisallows the rear window panel to be opened upward to gain access to thecargo bed or pick-up box. Folding arms or support struts 1504 a,b can beengaged to hold the rear window panel in a raised position. Rear windowpanel 1502 additionally incorporates a lock (not shown) to secure thepick-up box area when desired when the convertible cover is being usedas a cap. The side and rear window panels are at least partiallyfashioned from window glass or other appropriate transparent material.

[0053] Rear corner pillars 1102 a,b, which are stored inside the pick-upbox side panel bins 1100 via access doors 310 a,b, have bottom surfacesthat key into mating depressions in the top rear corners of the pick-upbox. Over-center latches secure them in place. Front faces of thepillars also have tracks that mate with the rear edge of the sidewindows. Their installation completes the pick-up box enclosure which isboth lockable and weather-tight.

[0054] The invention has been disclosed with reference to a detaileddescription of an embodiment of the invention, which is to be taken forthe sake of example only. The scope and spirit of the invention are tobe determined from the appropriately interpreted claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A deployable cover for a cargo bed of a vehiclecomprising: a movable tonneau cover having a closed position adapted toclose off the cargo bed, the tonneau cover including a storagecompartment; and a plurality of linearly extendable supports positionedwith respect to the tonneau cover such that they, may extend to move thetonneau cover from its closed position to an upwardly extended deployedposition wherein the tonneau cover is substantially parallel to a bottomsurface of the cargo bed; and first and second side panels and a rearpanel, each carried by the storage compartment in a stowed positionsubstantially parallel with a downward facing surface of the tonneaucover, and wherein the side and rear panels are moveable to a deployedposition substantially perpendicular to the tonneau cover so as to formin conjunction with the tonneau cover when in the deployed position abox cover for the cargo bed.
 2. The deployable cover of claim 1 whereineach linearly extendable support is associated with a motor, each motorbeing coupled to a control switch for simultaneous activation of themotors for extending the supports.
 3. The deployable cover of claim 2wherein each motor includes a drive gear and each extendable supportincludes a rack positioned for engagement with a respective drive gear.4. The deployable cover of claim 1 wherein the tonneau cover ispivotably movable about at least one edge of the cover.
 5. Thedeployable cover of claim 4 wherein the tonneau cover is pivotablymovable about the at least one edge in both the closed position and thedeployed position.
 6. The deployable cover of claim 1 wherein at leastone of the side and rear panels are at least partially fashioned from atransparent material.
 7. In a vehicle having a passenger cabin and -acargo bed opening upwardly of the vehicle, a cover arrangementcomprising: first and second top plates extending inwardly fromrespective first and second side panels of the cargo bed; a front faringhaving a base extending along an edge of the cargo beg adjacent thepassenger cabin and having opposed side faring surfaces extendingrearwardly from the base between an upper frame of the front faring anda respective top plate; a movable tonneau cover having a closed positionwherein the tonneau cover extends rearwardly from the base of the frontfaring to a rear wall of the cargo bed and in contact with the first andsecond top plates; a plurality of linearly extendable supportspositioned with respect to the tonneau cover such that they may extendto move the tonneau cover from its closed position to an upwardlyextended deployed position wherein the tonneau cover is substantiallyparallel to and aligned with a roof of the passenger cabin; first andsecond side window panels; a storage compartment formed in the tonneaucover for receipt of the side window panels when not in use; and a guidetrack formed in at least one of: the outboard edges of the tonneaucover, the first and second top plates, and vertically extending sidesurfaces of the front faring, the guide track arranged to receive thefirst and second side window panels when the tonneau cover is in thedeployed position.
 8. The cover arrangement of claim 7 wherein eachsupport is housed in a side panel of the cargo bed in the vicinity of acorner of the tonneau cover.
 9. The cover arrangement of claim 8 whereineach support is associated with a motor housed in a side panel of thecargo bed, each motor being coupled to a control switch for simultaneousactivation of the motors for extending the supports.
 10. The coverarrangement of claim 9 wherein each motor includes a drive gear and eachsupport includes a rack positioned for engagement with a respectivedrive gear.
 11. The cover arrangement of claim 9 wherein each motor iselectrically powered.
 12. The cover arrangement of claim 7 wherein thetonneau cover is pivotably movable about a front edge adjacent the frontfaring in both its closed and deployed positions.
 13. The coverarrangement of claim 7 further comprising first and second rear cornerpillars stored inside at least one of the first and second cargo bedside panels and adapted to be respectively installed on the first andsecond side panels beneath opposite corners of a rear edge of thetonneau cover when in its deployed position.
 14. The cover arrangementof claim 7 wherein the guide track comprises a track formed in each ofthe outboard edges of the tonneau cover, the first and second top platesand vertically extending portions of the rear facing of the front faringfor sliding receipt of the first and second side window panels when thetonneau cover is in the deployed position.
 15. The cover arrangement ofclaim 14 further comprising a rear window panel adapted for storage inthe storage compartment in the tonneau cover and having at least onequick disconnect hinge half positioned at an edge of the rear windowpanel; and at least one quick disconnect hinge half attached to a rearunderside edge of the tonneau cover for mating receipt of the at leastone hinge half on the rear window panel, whereby the rear window panelcan be pivotably moved about the quick disconnect hinge between open andclosed positions.
 16. The cover arrangement of claim 7 furthercomprising a lock mechanism in the tonneau cover operative in a lockedstate to engage a tailgate of the cargo bed to prevent access to thecargo bed.
 17. The cover arrangement of claim 7 further comprising abrake-activated stoplight positioned in a rearward facing edge of thetonneau cover.